Softball, Sports

BU hits rare offensive drought against UMass

For a team with a .371 on-base percentage and an average of almost five runs per game, the Boston University softball team is a group that can get its runners over home plate.

On Wednesday afternoon in a 3-2 loss to University of Massachusetts, though, however, the Terriers did everything but.

The team had several prime scoring opportunities – including one with the winning run in scoring position – but a lack of clutch hitting doomed the Terriers in this mid-week non-conference matchup.

BU’s first chance came almost immediately when senior center fielder April Setterlund got hit by a pitch and stole second with two outs in the first inning. Freshman third baseman Megan Volpano could not come through, though, and popped out to shortstop.

An inning later, BU had an even better opportunity. Freshman pitcher Holli Floetker walked and freshman shortstop Brittany Clendenny continued her recent hot streak with a line drive double into left field to set up runners at second and third base with no one out. But UMass pitcher Sara Plourde – who led the country in strikeouts in 2010 – came back to strike out three straight Terriers and escape the jam.

“That girl on the mound is an All-American,” said BU coach Shawn Rychcik, “so you’ve really got to hope you can take advantage of the opportunities.”

In the third with UMass up 1-0, redshirt freshman right fielder Jayme Mask did what she does best when she sent a single into left field and promptly stole second to lead off the inning. Plourde countered with an escape act by inducing a fly-out, a pop-out and a ground-out from the heart of the Terrier lineup.

The Terriers stayed quiet in the fourth and fifth, but in the sixth inning, trailing 3-0, they finally broke through against the Minutewoman ace.

After left fielder Erica Casacci walked, Setterlund got lucky when UMass third baseman Teea Rogers couldn’t catch a pop-up in foul territory. Setterlund took advantage with a bouncer up the middle for a single, and Volpano followed that up with another bouncer up the middle to load the bases.

Floetker – trying to get back the two runs she gave up in 3.2 innings on four hits and three walks – lifted a fly ball to left for a sacrifice fly. Moments later, redshirt freshman first baseman Chelsea Kehr hit an RBI single to right to cut the deficit to 3-2.

In the seventh, despite its frustrations on offense, BU looked like it was still going to manage an improbable victory when Mask barely beat out an infield single and safely slid under a tag when she stole second. Then Plourde intentionally walked Setterlund – a risky move, considering Setterlund and her team-high 19 stolen bases was the possible winning run.

“That’s an iffy call, but [Massachusetts coach Elaine Sortino] has been around a long and time, and for her it worked,” Rychcik said.

“But we were also a foot away from ‘game over.’”

Unfortunately for BU, it couldn’t find that extra foot, as Floetker’s full-count, two-out line drive was within reach for Rogers, who snagged it to put the game away.

Some might consider the Terriers lucky to get any hits – Plourde had not given one up in 18.2 innings before Clendenny’s double in the second – and they were indeed content with taking away some small moral victories.

“It’s the at bats,” Rychcik said. “Good, quality at bats. We put pressure on [Plourde] from the batter’s box. She walked and we got in some hitter’s counts later on, so I think our at bats got better.”

Thanks to the strong at bats – especially later in the game – Rychcik seemed neither too surprised nor distraught with the tight loss.

“That’s what you get with UMass,” Rychcik said. “We’re not going out of here going, ‘How do we beat them?’ I knew we could beat them, and I know we can beat them here after today’s game, and I think our kids believe they can beat them any way. They definitely didn’t scare us.”

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